Story by Luis Carríon

Pamplona Cross Restoration

A statue depicting the crucifixion of Jesus from the San Agustin Cathedral in downtown Tucson is undergoing a much needed restoration. The wooden artifact has endured a trip across the Atlantic, and the wear and tear of centuries of adoring worshipers. Now a husband and wife team of Art Conservators is stabilizing the fragile structure, and restoring the original materials.

“If we are able to rescue the original paint, it will be amazing not only for (Tucson) but (also) for Spain,” says Matilde Rubio. She and her husband, Tim Lewis, live and work primarily in Europe but she says that the San Agustin statue is special. She estimates the crucifix originated in Pamplona Spain around 1350, and in spite of its age it still retains much of the original paint.

The team is in the process of painstakingly removing multiple layers of paint and other materials that have been applied throughout the years.

There have been “four interventions previously,” Matilde said recently while working delicately to remove a thin layer of paint. Her work began to reveal the bright blue indigo that was still present bellow the layers of materials. Each “intervention may include several layers of paint, stucco, and glue,” she says with a nod.

Matilde notes that the work is not intended to make the statue look pretty, but rather to restore and stabilize the original materials as much as possible. Rubio and Lewis expect to be finished with the project sometime in April.